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mulatto

- 4 dictionary results

mu⋅lat⋅to

  [muh-lat-oh, -lah-toh, myoo-] noun, plural -toes, adjective
Use mulatto in a Sentence
–noun
1. the offspring of one white parent and one black parent: not in technical use.
2. a person whose ancestry is a mixture of Negro and Caucasian.
–adjective
3. of a light-brown color.
Origin:
1585–95; < Sp mulato young mule, equiv. to mul(o) mule 1 + -ato of unclear orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mulatto
mu·lat·to   (mŏŏ-lāt'ō, -lä'tō, myŏŏ-)   
n.   pl. mu·lat·tos or mu·lat·toes
  1. A person having one white and one Black parent. See Usage Note at octoroon.
  2. A person of mixed white and Black ancestry.

[Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mūlus.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mulatto

Mu*lat"to\, n.; pl. Mulattoes. [Sp. & Pg. mulato, masc., mulata, fem., of a mixed breed, fr. mulo mule, L. mulus. See Mule.] The offspring of a negress by a white man, or of a white woman by a negro, -- usually of a brownish yellow complexion.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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mulatto 
1595, from Sp. or Port. mulato "of mixed breed," lit. "young mule," from mulo "mule," from L. mulus (fem. mula) "mule," possibly in allusion to hybrid origin of mules. Fem. mulatta is attested from 1622.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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